Sustainable Irrigation Development in the White Volta sub-Basin UNESCO-IHE PhD Thesis

Sub-Saharan Africa has an irrigation potential of about 42 million hectares of which only 17% is developed. Despite several investments in irrigation the growth is slow. This study aims at helping to achieve sustainable irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa, through gaining a better understanding of productive irrigation water use and effective management of irrigation development. The study is conducted in the White Volta sub-basin specifically in Northern Ghana and Southern Burkina Faso which have been experiencing rapid irrigation development since the mid 1990s. The study identified growing markets for irrigated products as an important driving force behind the expansion of irrigation which has given rise to new technologies. The new technologies have spread because they gave farmers direct control over water sources. These new technologies allow relatively small farm sizes which can be adequately managed by the surveyed farmers. As a result high productivities are achieved. The hydrological impact of upscaling irrigation in the sub-basin is sustainable and will maximize the overall benefits derived from water resources in the Volta Basin.

1. Introduction2. The White Volta sub-basin 3. Review of Irrigation Development in Sub-Saharan Africa4. Is Large-Scale Public Irrigation the way-forward for sub-Saharan Africa? 5. Description of Irrigation Technologies in the White Volta sub-basin 6. Productivity of Irrigation Technologies in the White Volta sub-basin 7. Past and Future Trend of Irrigation Development in three catchments of the White Volta sub-basin 8. Impact of Intensifying Irrigation Development and Implications for Sustainable Water Resources Management in the White Volta sub-basin9. Conclusions and Recommendations Appendix A – data for cropwat

Eric Antwi Ofosu (Ghana, 1979) received a BSc degree in Civil Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, in 2002, and an MPhil degree in Water Resource Engineering on a study on drought preparedness plan for the Kumasi Water Supply System in 2005. In 2006 he was awarded a fellowship from the Netherlands Government to pursue a PhD degree in Integrated Water Resources Management at UNESCO-IHE as part of a capacity building project with the Civil Engineering Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.